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Punisher 2's Director Scuffle

by Alex Billington
June 12, 2007
Source: Collider.com, JoBlo

This sequel is really getting butchered. With so much happening to it, and for that matter, so much negative news, I don't know how it'll ever turn out good anymore. The quintessential Frank Castle, known in real life as actor Thomas Jane, who played Punisher in the first film from 2004, already left the sequel a month back, saying "what I won't do is spend months of my life sweating over a movie that I just don't believe in". Now without a primary actor to fill the role, the film seems to be running into more troubles. The director that was supposed to be directing Punisher 2 is actually not. Now it's a new girl, known by her first film Green Street Hooligans, who will supposedly be taking on Punisher 2.

The news that director John Dahl (Rounders, You Kill Me), who was originally thought to be directing Punisher 2, is no longer doing so, comes from Collider.com. They confirmed in a very recent interview that he decided to pass on the project. His reasons? The same kind of concerns that Thomas Jane had when he left.

"I love the idea of a kick-ass vigilante that's got a really black sense of humor that can throw three people into a trash can and light them on fire and walk away while they're screaming. That just sounded funny to me. But I wasn't sure that the script could really get there, that it would have that sense of humor. And it also felt like it had too much baggage, not in a bad way... there was just too much... I'd be sort of digging myself out of a hole right from the beginning."

Following that announcement came a rumor from JoBlo that a new director had been found - Lexi Alexander. Yes, that's her in the photo to the right and watch out, she's a champion kickboxer. Known so far only by Green Street Hooligans, a great film, she may be an interesting choice to direct Punisher 2 - but the right one? We can't yet say. This film almost seems doomed now, and there would be a lot to work on and a lot to fix for anyone to salvage it into something good.

As JoBlo speculates, this project may end up getting shoved off as a straight-to-DVD release instead of anything theatrical. And given the current progression of news and troubles that it's encountering, I am starting to believe that, too.

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